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The Forest of Doom (book)
The Forest of Doom is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Malcolm Barter and originally published in 1983 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003 as Forest of Doom. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 3rd in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031604-3) and 8th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-429-1). Creation Background This Fighting Fantasy gamebook is set in the usual fantasy world of Titan, in the Allansia region. The player must retrieve a magical warhammer for the Dwarves of the village of Stonebridge. It has been separated into two pieces and lost in the depths of Darkwood Forest. The player becomes involved when the Dwarf Bigleg stumbles into their camp-site, dying from wounds inflicted in the ambush that resulted in the loss of the warhammer. Bigleg's last words lead the player to look up Yaztromo and so the adventure begins. Rules The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System). Wizard Books Edition Rule Errors Some of the rules are incorrectly printed in the Wizard Books version of the book due to text being copied from The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. The rules state that Provisions can only be eaten when instructed by the text, which is not the case. The book also incorrectly states that the player has two doses of their chosen Potion at the beginning of the book, when in fact they have only one. The rules also omit the paragraph on fighting more than one enemy. This can cause confusion since, unlike most Fighting Fantasy books, you aren't always told what to do when you face more than one enemy in the text and are reliant on the rules. Equipment List *Sword *Leather Armour *Backpack *Lantern *10 Provisions *Choice of one of three Potions (see Game System for generic fantasy setting choices) In the course of events in the "Background" the player obtains a map and 30 Gold Pieces. Cover and Illustrations Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Iain McCaig. When the book was republished by Wizard the cover was re-worked by Martin McKenna, who was asked to use the main elements from the original cover images but make them appear more modern. #Price for 1st~2nd Impressions; £1.50 for 6th~13th Impressions #Price of 14th Impression; £1.95 for 20th Impression #Price of 24th Impression #Price of 29th Impression Illustrations The interior illustrations were by Malcolm Barter. The full-page illustrations in the book were accompanied with a caption giving the number of the paragraph depicted and a short extract from the text, a format which was only used in two other books, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and The Citadel of Chaos. Intertextual References The book introduced several characters and locations that would recur later in the series, including the wizard Gereth Yaztromo, the Dwarven village of Stonebridge and the Evil Darkwood Forest. Prequels and Sequels Chronologically, the book can be considered the sequel to Caverns of the Snow Witch and - depending on the reader's interpretation - the prequel to Temple of Terror. Other Media *Videogame versions of the book were released in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. *Clarecraft made a figurine called The Shape Changer and another called Gillibran Lord Of The Dwarfs in 1986 (re-released in 2004), as part of an officially licensed series of Fighting Fantasy Ornaments, based on the cover from "The Forest of Doom". Both of these are taken from the pages of "The Forest of Doom". *'Forest of Doom Holidays' were run by Dolphin and Colony Holidays in 1985 offering real life adventures in the forests of and .25th Anniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain d20 System Conversion There is a D20 System conversion by Myriador called Forest Of Doom. Main Characters *Bigleg - Dwarf *Gereth Yaztromo - Wizard *King Gillibran - Dwarf Locations Encounters Further Notes *3 instant failures, 1 victory, plus death by stamina loss or bad luck. *If the player has not retrieved the hammer by the end of the book it is possible to retrace their steps and try again an indefinite number of times, which can introduce absurdities as set-pieces are reset. *Ian Livingstone sources both his favourite character from the Fighting Fantasy books (Gereth Yaztromo)25th Anniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, page 224 and his favourite monster (the Shapechanger)25th Anniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, page 221 from this book. Dedication See Also *''Armies of Death'' *''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' *''City of Thieves'' *''Crypt of the Sorcerer'' *''Deathtrap Dungeon'' *''Eye of the Dragon'' *''Fighting Fantasy'' *''Freeway Fighter'' *''Island of the Lizard King'' *''Legend of Zagor'' *''Return to Firetop Mountain'' *''Temple of Terror'' *''Trial of Champions'' External Links *Character Sheet References * * * Official sites: * * Magazines: * Forest of Doom, The 03 08